The National Instant Background Checks System (NICS) checks for December of 2018 were 2,543,385. They were just a little less (42,753) than NICS checks for December of 2017. That makes them the fourth highest December on record and puts the total for 2018 as the second highest year of NICS checks on record with 26,181,936. The top year was 2016, with 27,438,673. -- Two things conspired to bring about the “Trump Slump”. The first is that President Trump is not Hillary Clinton. Gun owners are not as concerned about being able to purchase the gun and ammunition they want. There is also less fear of emotionally driven politics will be used to deny them the guns they wish to have. -- The second part is many NICS checks are for other purposes. Once we take out the background checks done for permits and permit renewals, The numbers drop. The numbers of permit and permit recheck numbers for December of 2018 were 737,926 and 285,273, respectively. Those are 1,023,199 checks not done for firearms purchases.